Why I sing and how I can help you free the song in your own heart

Hello again; I just recorded another video for my podcast about the amusement industry and the equipment my clients have for sale. Its called Calliope Corner, and you can find my videos on youtube.

For those of you who haven’t seen any of them I should tell you that I start off each one with me singing and then I introduce the show, mention the website and contact information; then go into whatever ride, game, inflatable, etc I’m talking about.

Its been a while since I recorded one of these videos. I was launching the new site and dealing with some minor health issues. But I had forgotten how much I enjoy recording the videos. More importantly I forgot how good I feel when my friends write to say how nice my voice is and how good I sound. One friend even suggested that my singing could make me famous.

I am happy with my singing, but it wasn’t always that way. A very short time ago I wouldn’t have had the confidence to sing in public much less on youtube where millions of people could see and hear me.

Some history

You see, on my dad’s side of the family most everyone can sing or play a musical instrument or both. My grandfather J. V. Ivey was a great finger picker guitar player. He also sang mostly country and had a radio show in their home town of Union, South Carolina.

My dad Maxwell Ivey Sr. played the guitar and sang too. He was more of a strummer. Him and his brothers and friends had at least one band when he was a teenager.

Being a daddy’s son I wanted to do what he did. When me and my brother Michael were young he bought us both starter guitars. He put different colored finger polish on the frets of mine to help me make the chords. i could make the sounds but couldn’t make music.

I could sing or at least my mom and dad never complained. Me and my dad would sing along to radio, 8 tracks, and later cassettes while driving to and from events, family outings, scout meetings etc. We liked the same music and sang together.

When I lost confidence in my singing

In junior high school I was in the school choir. and it was about this time that I lost most of my vision as well as my confidence as a singer. And yes they were related.

You see I have retinitis pigmentosa which causes the loss of night vision, color vision, peripheral vision, and effects your ability to see in three dimensions.

I used to love singing along to the tv variety shows like the donny and marie show. To me it looked like they were singing without moving their lips or not very much at least. When i tried mimicking them people made fun of me.

Also, the choir I was singing in only had sopranos and altos. I could still sing alto. But at one of the school competitions for our choir someone jokingly said I sounded horrible and should just move my lips. Didn’t realize the mistake until later, but that’s what I did.

Later the director and I talked and she told me I should have just said something earlier in the year and they could have moved me to their other group that included teners and bases.

Another issue for me is not being able to read sheet music. And this was before the internet, so I couldn’t just go online and download the lyrics of any song I wanted to sing. And so a lot of times I wouldn’t sing a song or could only sing a short part of it for not knowing more of the words.

Good memory of my dad

This actually brought back a good memory of my dad. I once complained to him how hard it was to learn the words to a song. He said he had the same problem. He said when they had a band it wasn’t unusual for someone to say hey play such and such and I’ll give you a dollar. He said we usually had to tell them well we don’t know the whole song how about we sing the first verse for a quarter. lol

My dad was a great kidder and a heck of a story teller. we never knew if he was being straight with us or making it up. And I believe his attitude towards life is where I get a lot of my positive nature from.

Regaining my confidence in my singing

So, for years I thought no one wanted to hear me sing. If I was singing for myself and someone walked up on me I’d quit or at least start singing softer. As I got older other people would hear me sing and complement me on my voice. I gradually started gaining confidence in it again.

Desperation is the mother of invention

Then we come to december of 2013. I was wanting to start recording videos for my website. I had the headset, and a couple of people had sent me ride videos to work with. But I didn’t have an intro. I had already put this off for over a year and had set myself a goal of doing it by new year’s day no matter what.

So, I sat down and tried just to see what my voice would sound like. I recorded me singing the christmas song by Nat King Cole. I told people about my progress recording videos and how I planned to do more in the future showcasing equipment for sale. And people liked it.

It probably didn’t hurt that I did my first one during the holiday season when people are in a more charitable mood. But people have generally liked all of them. I usually get at least 100 views, and more people watch the intro than watch the rest of the videos.

As I have been working to build my coaching practice and get my name out there I’ve been trying to think of products I can offer for free or for donations. So last week I got the idea of recording my own online album. Of course, this idea has the advantage of sharing a time when I faced my own fears.

So, I sat down and recorded full length versions of four songs The River by Garth Brooks, Love Me by Colin Ray, One Good Well by Don Williams, and Honky Tonk Moon by Randy Travis.

I plan to record more songs. Some will be the ones I have used in past youtube videos. Others will be those that have special significance to me or that I believe have a positive uplifting message.

Where to find them

I have uploaded these songs to Selz. I have also uploaded a video showing me singing parts of the songs so people can get an idea of what they will be downloading. They have a pay what you want option that I have combined with their free listing option. So, you can download the songs for as little as you like. I have actually encouraged people to grab them for free and if they like them; they can always go to the donate button on my website and make a contribution. 🙂

And I want to take a moment to mention the great people at Selz.com. Their site is very accessible using a screen reader. And they have gone out of their way to show me that they would make it accessible if it weren’t already. Their coding department is actually looking into some suggestions I gave them. And they have replied to tech questions quickly even one I sent during Thanksgiving week.

As for the service it is very robust. You can list unlimited physical and electronic products. They offer templets to customize your store area. They don’t charge a monthly fee, they only take five percent of your grosses, and they pay you every week regardless of how much you have coming. The only negative I can find is their fees are so low they don’t offer an affiliate program.

The lessons

Yes, I have gone from self conscious about my singing and down right afraid at some points to being proud of it and now sharing it with the world. And who knows where this might lead. I’m hopeful that it will bring attention to my videos and help me make a name for myself online; but who knows. I’ve learned not to put limits on God.

I’m sharing this to point out that when someone tries something new and scary they are very vulnerable. They are like a new born child. It doesn’t take much to crush their spirit and kill their dreams. And you would be surprised just how little it might take.

Words have power. They can cut and cause injuries that last. Lots of people are dealing with big issues that started as small slights and little insults.

This is why support groups are so important. If you are stepping out on that ledge or tight rope you don’t want anyone telling you how high up you are or how badly you will get hurt if you fall. You want someone telling you not to look down, just put one foot in front of the other; and you can make it I know you can.

So, get out there and start doing those things that make you happy. If you like to sing, then sing the louder the better. Maybe its gymnastics, karate, ice skating, amusement parks, sky diving, body building, whatever. If dancing gets your blood pumping literally and figuratively, then dance like Ellen. If there has ever been anyone who dances like no one is watching its her.

If you need help overcoming those past hurts and blocking out the voice of your child that reminds you of how many times you have failed in the past; then I’m here for you. I can help you get clear on what the goal is, determine the steps needed to accomplish it, and be there to help keep you motivated and on track. I know you can do it. Lets do it together.

Sharing is caring

This post is unusual for me. It required me to share some personal stuff with you that I haven’t talked about much in my life. I think it could really help someone. S, please share this with your friends, family and coworkers. I also hope that you will post it to your social media networks. I think you owe it to that person who reads your posts who you know could really benefit from reading this post.

And I live for your comments. Its how I know if what I am writing is what you need to be hearing. Its how I connect with you and find out what is driving you crazy or making you happy as the case may be. The search engines only know my blog is worth reading if people leave comments. And you do get those lovely back links to your website and latest post for leaving your thoughts.

Well, that’s it for this time. I really do love hearing from you. If you aren’t comfortable leaving a comment then drop me a line. You don’t have to have a question or problem. I enjoy a good conversation with a new friend at any time. Thanks so much for reading and take care out there, Max

 

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